Trust
by Dellastar
Summary: Tony has been let down by two of the people he trusted most. Does he stay or does he leave...
1. Chapter 1

Season 8 episode 5 Dead Air.

Probationary Agent Ziva David and Special Agent Timothy McGee had been sitting in the car for over 4 hours. They were waiting for their SFA Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo to finish speaking with all the neighbours in the royal woods luxury living.

Ziva was looking out around the window while Tim was nearly asleep in the drivers Seat.

*ring ring*

The sound of the mobile phone broke through the silence in the car making Tim startle awake and Ziva jump to look at it. For a few moments they both stared at the phone before a Ziva broke through the stupor to answer it.

"David"

"Hey Ziva" Gibbs voice came through the phone.

"How's it going there at the royal woods?"

"All is going well here Gibbs. We are just waiting for Tony to get back from speaking with all the neighbours."

"How is DiNozzo going?"

"Uh we would not know. We turned the speaker off a few hours ago. Listening to him speaking so much was getting. How do you say it? Grinding?"

"Grating" McGee supplied from the other side of the car.

"Yes grating on our nerves."

There was a moment of silence from down the phone line.

"You mean to tell me that you left DiNozzo in an unknown possibly hostile situation with no back up?!" Gibbs shouted out.

Ziva and Tim looked at each other then Tim took the phone from Ziva.

"Hey boss it's McGee. I'm sure Tony's fine he's..."

"McGee rule 15"

"Always work as a team boss, I know. We'll turn the speakers on now, I'm sure he's fine."

Tim hands the phone back to Ziva and grabs the laptop from the back seat. He opens it up and clicks a button. Nothing happens. He frowns and clicks a few more buttons. Ziva looks at him in concern.

"Whats going on McGee?" Asks Gibbs.

"I'm not sure" answers Tim, "it should be working."

"I'm gonna rewind the feed back a bit a see if we can figure out what's happened."

Tim begins typing away at the computer, the keys clicking the only sound to be heard. Finally Tim stops and Tonys voice can be heard through the speaker.

"Hi my names Tony, I'm thinking of moving into the area. What can you tell me about the neighbourhood?"

They then hear him talking to a few different people about the neighbourhood and the different places around the area.

"Everything sounds normal to me" says Ziva.

Tim nods but then suddenly they hear something different coming across the speakers.

"Hey, hey you!" They hear.

"Oh hey my names Tony and I'm..."

*bang*

"What was that McGee?" Gibbs barks.

"I don't know boss" Tim says as he starts typing in the computer.

He rewinds the tape and they hear the bang followed by static silence.

"McGee" Gibbs shouts through the phone.

"Something must have happened to Tony" Ziva states.

"Well the what are you waiting for? Go find him!" Gibbs shouts again.

Tim and Ziva scramble out of the car and started running towards the last place they saw Tony, two blocks down.

"I saw him go left here" Ziva shouts as they keep running.

They get to the end of the block and stop suddenly. Looking down they see tire skid marks going up the road. They start to look around and Ziva finds Tonys ear piece sitting in the gutter.

"McGee" she said quietly holding up the earpiece. Tim looks over and his eyes widen in horror. He then motions Ziva over to where he is and points down. Ziva looks at him confused then looks down to where he is pointing. After a moment she looks back up at him with a horrified look on her face as well.

Tim pulls out his phone, hits a number on speed dial and holds it up to his ear.

"Gibbs"

"Uh boss. We have a problem. It's DiNozzo. He's gone"

Tim and Ziva look at each other then down at the ground again, where there was a large pool of blood and Tonys credentials lying right in the middle of it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

There was silence heard through the phone before Gibbs barks out

"McGee report! What's going on there?"

Tim and Ziva looked at each other.

"Tonys gone boss. We have found his earpiece lying in the gutter and a large pool of blood with his credentials in the middle of it."

"You two stay right there and secure the scene. I'm sending in another team to take over the case, then you need to get your asses back to NCIS."

Tim relayed the news to Ziva who with a shout of "what!" Took the phone from him.

"Gibbs why are you taking us off this case? It is our teammate who is missing! We should be staying here to find clues to help us find Tony"

"Stand down David! Whose fault is it that this has happened? If you had been providing adequate back up for DiNozzo this would not have happened! Now secure the scene until the other team gets there then report to director Vance's office immediately!"

Gibbs then hangs up and Ziva passes the mobile back to Tim. They spread out to guard the scene and remain silent, waiting for the other team to arrive.

Back at NCIS Leroy Jethro Gibbs had just slammed his phone down in anger. The jumped to his feet and yelled out over the partition separating teams,

"Balboa! Need your team to go out and relieve my team and work the scene where they currently are."

A young dark haired agent jumped up when he heard his name being called and the look of surprise soon turned to shock as he listened to what Gibbs was telling him.

"Gibbs? What's going on?" He yelled back as Gibbs ran to the directors office.

"DiNozzo's been kidnapped. Get any information you need from McGee and David then send them straight back here to the directors office." Gibbs calls back whilst climbing the stairs two at a time.

"You heard the man grab your gear! We've got a missing agent to find."

The elevator doors closed on Balboa and his team at the same time as Gibbs burst into the directors office.

"Gibbs! What is the meaning of this? You can't keep bursting in here when it takes your fancy!" Vance barks out at Gibbs. Gibbs just shakes his head at Vance, looking years older than he truly was.

"Gibbs, what is it?" Vance asks.

Gibbs sits heavily down into a chair in front of Vance's desk.

"It's DiNozzo, He's been kidnapped. And McGee and David who were his back up had turned the speakers off and hadn't been backing him up for three hours! Three hours Leon!"

Vance just looks at Gibbs shock evident on his face

"They turned the speakers off? Are you sure?"

"They told me themselves Leon."

"How long has he been missing?"

A tear rolls down Gibbs face as he answers,

"Two hours."

"We will find him Gibbs. And we will make those two so called agents pay for their mistakes."

Gibbs nods and looks so helpless that Leon walks around his desk to lay a hand on Gibbs shoulder.

"We'll get to the bottom of this"

Once Balboa and his team had secured the team, Tim and Ziva got back into the car and drove back to NCIS headquarters in silence. They rode the lift in silence and they waited outside Director Vance's office in silence. Finally the door opened and Vance ushered them inside to sit in the chairs in front of his desk. Gibbs was sitting in a chair to the side of Vance's desk facing the agents and he observed them as they entered the room. He watched how Ziva walked in with her head held high and with an air of superiority about her. And he also observed how skittish McGee looked, like a cornered animal trying to find a way out. He saw McGee glance at Ziva a few times then at his hands which he winced when he squeezed together. Gibbs brow furrowed as he contemplated the two agents in front of him who had once been a part of his team, but who had no chance of getting back on it now.

Finally Vance cleared his throat and everybody turned to look at him.

"Today, is the first time in all my years as director as well as as an agent, that I have heard of such a horrific breach of protocol. Nothing like this has ever happened before and I had hoped it never would. I am giving you time right now to explain yourselves before I call internal investigations and turn you over to them. But I can well assure you that nothing you say here is going to help your cause. You will both be fired and have all your qualifications stripped from you. You'll be lucky to end up in a minimum wage job. But that's only if you don't go to jail for this."

Gibbs had still been observing the soon to be former agents and when Vance had mentioned jail time he saw McGee flinch and flinch hard. He also saw Ziva shoot a glare at McGee and elbow him in the side which caused McGee to gasp in obvious pain.

Gibbs wrote down on a puece of paper 'interview separately. Something wrong with McGee' and pushed in toward Vance who read it, nodded, and called for Agent Smith to take Ziva to interrogation room two. Once she was gone, Gibbs leaned over to Tim and asked,

"What happened?"

McGee started to retell the story of the day and when he got to the part about the speakers getting turned off he began to rock back and forth and whispered,

"Ziva did it. Ziva, Ziva. I said no, no I said. Not right. Tony need us, need help. No she said Tony too annoying. Timmy try to turn speaker back on but Ziva, Ziva yell no. Timmy try again and zZva break Timmy's fingers. Ow ow Timmy's fingers hurt. Hurt boss hurt hurt."

Gibbs and Vance glance at each other then back at Tim who is still rocking back and forth and cradling his right hand to his chest. Gibbs sits next to Tim and puts a hand on Tim's shoulder. As soon as that hand lands on Tim's shoulder Tim begins to scream. Gibbs is startled so bad that he almost falls out of the seat and he looks at Vance who is wide eyed before Vance grabs his phone and demands that Cynthia call an ambulance immediately. Gibbs is left to look on in shock as Vance tries to calm Tim down all the time thinking,

'what has happened to my team?'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three.

The ambulance arrives and the paramedics sedate Tim and load him onto the stretcher. Gibbs looks at Vance and says,

"I'm gonna go with McGee and try to find out what's going on here."

Vance nods, "I'll go and speak with agent David. Let's get to the bottom of this mess."

Gibbs then follows the paramedics out the door and into the elevator.

Vance sits heavily down at his desk and rubs his face with his hands. Then he gets up from his desk and strides out of his office.

"Cancel all of my appointments for the rest of the day" he calls out to Cynthia as he walks past and into the elevator.

Leon rides the elevator down to Abby's lab and as he exits he is surprised by the silence coming from the lab. Entering the lab he finds Abby sitting on a chair at the computer, head phones in her ears. Leon approaches and when he taps Abby on the shoulder she flinches, hard.

"Oh hey director. You gave me a fright." She said quietly.

"Miss Scuito. I know that everything that has happened has been hard on you. I need to know, are you still able to be here?"

"Director, my best friend is missing. Let down by the two people he trusted most. I won't rest until he is found safe and he is home again."

Vance nods "good" he answers.

"Now what have you got?"

"Well ballistics have come back on the radio shooter and..."

"No leave that for Balboas team, that's their case. Tell me what you have on the tapes that Tony was recording."

Abby looks up at the director sadly but nods.

"I've listened to Tonys tape all the way through and it's all normal up until the last few minutes."

Abby presses a button and the tape begins to play

"Hey, hey you!" They hear.  
"Oh hey my names Tony and I'm..."  
*bang*

Abby presses another button and the tape stops. They share a look and Abby shudders just thinking about what could have happened to her friend.

"Now play me the tape from in the car" Vance says.

"Ok" says Abby. "I havnt listened to that one yet. She types on the computer and the tape from the car comes up on the screen. She studies it for a moment.

"That's strange" she murmurs. "What's strange?" Vance barks, and she jumps again having almost forgotten he was there.

"Well see how this part here is shaded? That means it was recording. The shading stops at 48 minutes. But they were there for 3 hours before they realised Tony was gone."

"Does that mean?"

"Yes director. That means that after 48 minutes they turned off the speaker and recording equiptment."

Vance just shakes his head in disgust.

"Play from five minutes before it got shut down"

"Yes sir"

Abby presses another button and Zivas voice can be heard.

"Turn the speaker off already would you McGee. I'm sick of listening to Tony talk all about himself. He thinks he is so great, very special agent DiNozzo. Let me tell you, he is not so great."

"Umm... Ziva I think that we should leave the speaker on. Something could happen to Tony and besides it's breaking protocol."

"I'll tell you what's gonna get broken. Your fingers if you don't turn the speaker off right NOW!"

" n..no Ziva. We really need to leave the speakers on."

"I warned you McGee"

Abby and Vance shared a worried look as they heard a *crack* then silence as the speakers were turned off.

Leon continues to stare at the computer as he tries to work through everything that has happened. 'At least I know what happened to McGee's fingers' he thinks.

"Uh.. Director? What happened to McGee?"

"I'm not completely sure, Miss Scuito. I know now how his fingers got broken but not what happened with him in my office not ten minutes ago."

"What happened?"

"Like I said, I'm not completely sure. He was telling Gibbs and myself what happened then suddenly he was rocking back and forth and stuttering. When Gibbs tried to comfort him, he started screaming. We had to get an ambulance and sedate him."

Abby looks horrified but then suddenly she looks as if she had remembered something.

"Did he refer to himself as Timmy?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Timmy, director. Did he call himself Timmy?"

"Yes I believe he did. Why what's going on?"

"Director, I've got to go"

"Miss Scuito what is going on?"

"I'm sorry but I've got to go and see Tim. He's gonna need me."

Vance just looks on in confusion as Abby grabs Burt and her bag and runs out the door.

His phone rings and pulling it out of his pocket he sees that the screen says 'Balboa'.

"Balboa report." He barks out in way of greeting.

"We've arrested the men in the local terrorist group."

"And?" Vance prompts.

"They've given up agent DiNozzo's location."

"Get as many teams as you need and go bring agent DiNozzo back"

"Yes sir"

Vance closes his phone and holding it tight in his fist all he can think is

'I hope we're not too late."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was sitting in the waiting room at Bathesda with his head in his hands. The same thought keeps running through his head.

'what has happened to my team?'

He keeps thinking over the last four hours trying to figure out exactly where everything went belly up and went to hell. For the life of him he can't figure it out.

'Tony was in the field. Ziva and Tim weren't backing him up. Tony got kidnapped. Ziva broke Tim's fingers. Tim's in the hospital.' Gibbs just shakes his head and drops it back into his hands.

Suddenly Abby races into the waiting room and to the reception desk.

"I need to see Tim McGee." She says. "I need to see him right now, he needs me!"

The receptionist looks flustered as she tries to plactate a very concerned gothic women.

"I'm sorry ma'am you can't see him right now. I'll have to speak with the doc..."

"I'm Tim McGee's medical power of attorney and if you look in his file you will see a clause stating that I am to be permitted to see him at any time. I need to see him now"

The receptionist types something on her computer and then reads something on it. Her eyes widen and she stands up abruptly,

"Quick follow me, I'll take you to him."

Gibbs stands up when he hears this.

"Hey Abs what's going on?" He calls out.

Abby spins around suddenly and her pigtails flick her in the face.

"Sorry Gibbs I've gotta be with Tim" us all she says as she rushes through the hospital door that admits her to the wards. Gibbs goes to rush after her but is stopped by security who inform him that he 'does not have the clearance to go back there.'

Gibbs stalks back to his chair in the waiting room and throws himself into it. He once again drops his head into his hands and just as he starts pondering the new development with Abby and Tim his phone rings.

"What?!" He shouts down the phone.

"Gibbs it's Balboa we've got Tonys location."

"Send me the coordinates. I'm on my way."

Gibbs hangs up and is already halfway out the hospital door thinking, 'I hope we're not too late.'

When Gibbs arrives at the coordinates a plethora of cars and agents are already waiting there as well as the kanine units. Gibbs spots Balboa and runs his way over.

"Balboa fill me in"

"Ok here's what we know so far. We caught the community terrorists and we finally managed to get out of them that they had been the ones to kidnap Agent DiNozzo. They saw him talking to everyone and thought he was a pervert or a serial killer trying to move in to the area and they decided to take matters into their own hands. The guy who shot the Navy Commander and Gator also shot DiNozzo and they loaded him into the postie's van. They claim they searched him and when they found the wire and credentials is when they panicked. They drove him out to the hunters cabin and that's when they claim Arthur Haskell snapped. Apparently he beat DiNozzo with a bat because he hates cops after what happened to his wife. She was killed by a drug addict who had just escaped police custody. So after they pulled this guy off DiNozzo they decide to dump his body in the woods. This is the area where they claimed we'd find him."

Gibbs nods, "alright let's go then"

The kanine teams lead the way as the large group of agents follow behind searching for any clue of DiNozzo with Gibbs heading the pack silently praying that they're not too late.

The search had been going for forty-five minutes and Gibbs was starting to get panicky. Suddenly a shout went up from one of the agents on the kanine team.

"We've got something"

Gibbs ran as fast as his feet could carry him and arrived on a scene he hoped he'd never have to see. DiNozzo is lying prone underneath some bushes and the ground surrounding him was soaked red with his blood. Gibbs rushes over and drops to his knees beside the prone body that was his senior field agent. He drops his head into his hands shaking as he did.

"NO NO NO! TONY NO!" He screams out to the universe. Gibbs leans forward and holds Tony up in his arms. He bows his head and the agents surrounding him avert their eyes as they see tears slipping down his face.

Suddenly Tony lets out a cough and a splutter.

"He's alive! Call a medic!" Someone shouts.

Everyone cheers as they hear the news and then they rush to call the helicopter ambulance that's on standby to pick him up. It only takes minutes for it to arrive and as Gibbs climbs into the helicopter next to Tony he turns back to face the large group of agents that had helped to find Tony.

"THANKYOU!" He shouts out over the noise of the helicopter as it takes off. The agents begin to cheer again, all of them so thrilled to have found one of their own and to find him alive.


End file.
